A few questions for Robin – newbie to veteran
by saracreasy on May.01, 2010, under Robin Hobb and Sara Creasy
Time for me to pick Robin’s brains for a change…
I read the Liveships Trilogy several years ago and was totally sucked in by the “family saga” aspect of those books. From a writing perspective, can you talk a bit about point of view? My book has a single point of view because, as a new author, I thought that was the simplest way to go. (It has limitations, of course, but I also felt it had the immersive quality I needed.) How do you tackle and keep track of multiple points of view? How easy is it to write from a character’s POV when you don’t necessarily identify much with that character? I’m planning to attempt two POVs for my next book, but I’m not sure I can handle more just yet. Am I worrying about nothing?
On to your dragons in the latest two books. Did you base their behavior on real animals? To me the dragons come across as rather cat-like – bearing in mind that cats express all kinds of personalities. Some of the dragons are indifferent and arrogant, viewing humans as inferior servants, while others are friendly, even doting, and I can imagine them rolling over to have their furry – uh, scaly – bellies scratched.
I know your family moved to Alaska when you were young, with the intention of living self-sufficiently. This idea fascinates me because it makes me think about colonizing new worlds, starting with close to nothing, and also about long space voyages where the spaceship becomes a self-sufficient body. Can you give any pearls of wisdom about coping with this lifestyle? What are the pitfalls? What’s the balance between satisfaction gained from raising your own food, versus frustration at not having a microwave oven?
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May 2nd, 2010 on 1:54 am
Hi Sara,
Multiple view points in a book. Well, in my opinion, there are two parts to deciding on the Point of View or POV characters in a tale. The first rule for me is to use as few as possible. Otherwise, I confuse not only my readers but myself. The second part is to always write from the POV of the character who can tell the tale the best.
The Liveships books told a far flung tale, with many events happening simultaneously but separated by great distances. So I ended up with many POV characters. And for each scene, I had to ask myself, who has the best focus on the events? Who is really in the heart of the action. And then I wrote from that character’s POV.
I think all characters a writer creates have at least a tiny shred of the writer in the core. So, find that shred of yourself, love the character you are in, believe in what he believes in, and then you can write that character convincingly. (Or so I hope!)
On my dragons, I tried not to base them on any known animals. Because, of course, they are dragons. I wanted to create a species that is just as arrogant and affectionate as humans, a species that believes, was we do, that all belongs to it, and it can lay claim to the world, portion it up with imaginary lines, and do as it pleases with it.Cats do have some of that attitude, I suppose. (While writing this post, I’ve had to leave my chair three times to attend to some feline’s imaginary whim. As in, ‘oh, I was just scratching at the door for no reason. I don’t want in. Or out. Just to see if you would open the door.’ So perhaps there is a bit of the cat in them.)
And your last question about a self-sufficient life style? Well, I would say I learned more about that on boats than I did growing up in Fairbanks. I don’t mean to imply I’ve spent a lot of time on boats; I haven’t. But in summers, I used to go up, usually with a child or two, and spend some time on a salmon tender with my husband. It was one way to get to see him. But a boat is a very small and self sufficient world. If you don’t have something on board, then you do without it. And the closed society of a boat makes for some very interesting adaptations and interactions. Most of the crew were people who had lived on boats for years of their lives. It was interesting to come into their society, make a place for myself, and then watch the rhythms of their lives.
Robin
May 2nd, 2010 on 1:15 pm
Living on boats sounds like living on a spaceship. But Sara throws up on boats.
I felt there was a bit of companionship between Dragon Keeper and Scarabaeus: both of the main characters were rejected mutants from a harsh environment. One was kidnapped and the other was banished, but they were both cast out, with dire consequences to follow. Your Rain Wilds made me think of Scarabaeus’s mutant jungle.
Of course, Sara neglected to give her character a dragon companion, which seems like a bit of an oversight now.
May 2nd, 2010 on 2:10 pm
Of course, I might throw up on spaceships too. Guess I’ll never know…
May 2nd, 2010 on 11:21 pm
Loving the insights …… and the banter!
Robin, you suck me in everytime you write about your worlds - as you wrote about the dragons then, I was completely back in the books!
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